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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: clip · rule · club · field · rash · craft

  1. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  11. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. field — for sport
  3. craft — boats
  4. clip — to cut
  5. field — a subject
  6. rule — a law
  7. craft — a handicraft
  8. rash — hasty
  9. clip — for paper
  10. craft — a skill
  11. rule — to rule out
  12. club — for dancing
  13. rash — a series
  14. club — for golf
  15. field — farmland
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. club — a group
  18. clip — a video

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com